NC
North Carolina Senate Bill S582

North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina Senate Bill S582 Compare Versions

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11 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
22 SESSION 2025
3-S 1
4-SENATE BILL 582
3+S D
4+SENATE BILL DRS35212-TCa-2
5+
56
67
78 Short Title: Wellness Break Act. (Public)
89 Sponsors: Senators Theodros and Chitlik (Primary Sponsors).
9-Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
10-March 26, 2025
11-*S582 -v-1*
10+Referred to:
11+
12+*DRS35212 -TCa-2*
1213 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
1314 AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A SABBATICAL PROGRAM FOR LONG -TERM EMPLOYEES 2
1415 IN NORTH CAROLINA, PROMOTING HEALTH, REJUVENATION, AND PERSONAL 3
1516 WELL-BEING. 4
1617 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
1718 6
1819 PART I. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE SABBATICAL LEAVE 7
1920 SECTION 1.(a) Article 2 of Chapter 126 of the General Statutes is amended by 8
2021 adding a new section to read: 9
2122 "§ 126-8.7. Paid sabbatical leave. 10
2223 (a) Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this section: 11
2324 (1) Long-term employee. – A career State employee who has been continuously 12
2425 employed in the same position for the immediate three years. 13
2526 (2) Sabbatical leave. – A period of paid leave for health improvement, 14
2627 skill-building, and personal enrichment of between four to six weeks. 15
2728 (b) Sabbatical Leave. – The State Human Resources Commission shall adopt rules and 16
2829 policies for sabbatical leave that include at least the following requirements: 17
2930 (1) The long-term employee shall not have been granted a sabbatical leave in the 18
3031 prior three years. 19
3132 (2) The long-term employee shall submit an application to the employer for 20
3233 sabbatical leave that outlines the intended use of their sabbatical leave, 21
3334 including a focus on health, wellness, personal development, or skill 22
3435 enhancement. 23
3536 (3) The long-term employee shall agree to return to the same position at the end 24
3637 of the sabbatical leave for a period of one year. 25
3738 (4) The employer shall grant the requested sabbatical leave unless the employer 26
3839 determines that the grant would prevent the employer from providing essential 27
3940 services. 28
4041 (5) The employer shall continue to provide the employee benefits and an amount 29
4142 equal to seventy percent (70%) of the employee's salary during the sabbatical 30
4243 leave. 31
4344 (6) The employer shall allow the employee to return to the same position at the 32
4445 end of the sabbatical leave. 33
4546 (7) The employer shall not penalize or discriminate against a long-term employee 34
4647 that takes a sabbatical leave. 35
47-(c) Requirements. – The sabbatical leave authorized by this section: 36 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
48-Page 2 Senate Bill 582-First Edition
48+(c) Requirements. – The sabbatical leave authorized by this section: 36
49+FILED SENATE
50+Mar 25, 2025
51+S.B. 582
52+PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
53+Page 2 DRS35212-TCa-2
4954 (1) Is available without exhaustion of the employee's sick and vacation leave and 1
5055 is awarded in addition to any other leave authorized by State or federal law. 2
5156 (2) Has no cash value upon termination from employment. 3
5257 (3) May not be used for calculating an employee's retirement benefits. 4
5358 (d) A long-term employee that fails to return to the same position or remain employed by 5
5459 the employer for one year shall be liable for repayment of one-half of the cost of all salary and 6
5560 benefits received during the sabbatical leave. This provision shall not apply if the failure to return 7
5661 is due to the death or permanent disability of the employee. 8
5762 (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, this section applies to all State 9
5863 employees, public school employees, and community college employees. 10
5964 (f) All State employers, local boards of education, and local community college boards 11
6065 of trustees shall report information requested by the State Human Resources Commission on use 12
6166 of sabbatical leave, including rate of use and other measurable outcomes, including measures of 13
6267 employees' well-being and retention. The State Human Resources Commission shall report to 14
6368 the General Assembly annually by July 1 on the reported use and measurable outcomes of 15
6469 sabbatical leave, and any recommendations to improve program effectiveness and sustainability." 16
6570 SECTION 1.(b) Article 5 of Chapter 153A of the General Statutes is amended by 17
6671 adding a new section to read: 18
6772 "§ 153A-99.2. Paid sabbatical leave. 19
6873 Each county shall establish a policy to provide paid sabbatical leave to its employees that 20
6974 includes, at a minimum, the requirements of G.S. 126-8.7. Each county shall upon request report 21
7075 information requested by the State Human Resources Commission on use of sabbatical leave." 22
7176 SECTION 1.(c) Article 7 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes is amended by 23
7277 adding a new section to read: 24
7378 "§ 160A-169.2. Paid sabbatical leave. 25
7479 Each city shall establish a policy to provide paid sabbatical leave to its employees that 26
7580 includes, at a minimum, the requirements of G.S. 126-8.7. Each city shall upon request report 27
7681 information requested by the State Human Resources Commission on use of sabbatical leave." 28
7782 SECTION 1.(d) The State Human Resources Commission shall adopt rules as 29
7883 required by G.S. 126-8.7, as enacted by this section, no later than June 1, 2026. All State 30
7984 agencies, counties, and cities shall comply with the requirements of G.S. 126-8.7, 153A-99.2, 31
8085 and 160A-169.2, respectively, as enacted by this act, no later than July 1, 2026. The State Human 32
8186 Resources Commission shall submit the first report required by G.S. 126-8.7, as enacted by this 33
8287 act, no later than July 1, 2027. 34
8388 35
8489 PART II. PRIVATE SECTOR SABBATICAL LEAVE 36
8590 SECTION 2.1.(a) Article 3B of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes is amended by 37
8691 adding a new section to read: 38
8792 "§ 105-129.20. Credit for paid sabbatical leave for employees. 39
8893 (a) Credit. – A business that provides paid sabbatical leave for employees during the 40
8994 taxable year is allowed a credit to offset its costs in providing paid sabbatical leave for its eligible 41
9095 employees. For the purposes of this subsection, a taxpayer provides paid sabbatical leave if that 42
9196 leave meets at least the requirements of the model policy established by the NCWorks 43
9297 Commission as provided in G.S. 143B-438.14A. 44
9398 The credit is equal to a dollar amount per eligible employee provided paid sabbatical leave 45
9499 by the employer of up to twenty-five percent (25%) of the salary and benefits paid to the 46
95100 employee during the sabbatical, not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) per employee. 47
96101 (b) Allocation. – If the taxpayer is an individual who is a nonresident or a part-year 48
97102 resident, the taxpayer must reduce the amount of the credit by multiplying it by the fraction 49
98103 calculated under G.S. 105-153.4(b) or (c), as appropriate. If the taxpayer is not an individual and 50
99104 is required to apportion its multistate business income to this State, the taxpayer must reduce the 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
100-Senate Bill 582-First Edition Page 3
105+DRS35212-TCa-2 Page 3
101106 amount of the credit by multiplying it by the apportionment fraction used to apportion its 1
102107 apportionable income to this State." 2
103108 SECTION 2.1.(b) This section is effective for taxes imposed for taxable years 3
104109 beginning on or after July 1, 2026. 4
105110 SECTION 2.2.(a) Part 3B of Article 10 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes is 5
106111 amended by adding a new section to read: 6
107112 "§ 143B-438.14A. Paid sabbatical leave. 7
108113 (a) Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this section: 8
109114 (1) Long-term employee. – An employee who has been continuously employed 9
110115 by the same employer in the same position for the immediate three years. 10
111116 (2) Sabbatical leave. – A period of paid leave for health improvement, 11
112117 skill-building, and personal enrichment of between four to six weeks. 12
113118 (b) The NCWorks Commission shall do the following: 13
114119 (1) Develop model policies for sabbatical leave for private sector employers, in 14
115120 consultation with the State Human Resources Commission, that include at a 15
116121 minimum the requirements of G.S. 126-8.7. 16
117122 (2) Provide the following information to (i) all State agencies that contract or 17
118123 engage in public-private partnerships with non-State entities and (ii) the 18
119124 NCWorks Commission website for private sector employers: 19
120125 a. Model sabbatical leave policies. 20
121126 b. Research supporting sabbatical leave as a tool for enhanced 21
122127 productivity, workforce sustainability, and retention of long-term 22
123128 workers in private sector employment. 23
124129 c. Identified grants, tax credits, or other funding sources that can be used 24
125130 to offset the cost of sabbatical leave. 25
126131 (3) Recognize private sector employers that provide sabbatical leave as 26
127132 "Workforce Wellness Leaders." 27
128133 (4) Establish and award matching grants to State businesses employing fewer than 28
129134 100 employees to offset the costs of sabbatical leave. Grants shall provide no 29
130135 greater than fifty percent (50%) of the costs of the salary and benefits provided 30
131136 by the employer to an employee for sabbatical leave. 31
132137 (c) A State agency shall strongly encourage all non-State entities that the State agency 32
133138 contracts or partners with to implement sabbatical leave policies in accordance with the model 33
134139 policies developed by the NCWorks Commission. 34
135140 (d) The NCWorks Commission shall survey private sector employers annually on use of 35
136141 sabbatical leave, including rate of use and other measurable outcomes, including measures of 36
137142 employees' well-being and retention. The NCWorks Commission shall report to the General 37
138143 Assembly annually by July 1 on the reported use and measurable outcomes of sabbatical leave, 38
139144 and any recommendations to improve program effectiveness and sustainability." 39
140145 SECTION 2.2.(b) The NCWorks Commission shall develop and publish model 40
141146 policies no later than June 1, 2026, and shall comply with the remaining requirements established 41
142147 by G.S. 143B-438.14A, as enacted by this section, no later than July 1, 2026. The NCWorks 42
143148 Commission shall submit the first report required by G.S. 143B-438.14A, as enacted by this 43
144149 section, no later than July 1, 2027. 44
145150 45
146151 PART III. APPROPRIATIONS 46
147152 SECTION 3.(a) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of 47
148153 Administration, State Human Resources Commission, the sum of ten million dollars 48
149154 ($10,000,000) in recurring funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to provide funds to State agencies 49
150155 and local governments to offset costs associated with sabbatical leave. 50 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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152157 SECTION 3.(b) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of 1
153158 Commerce the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in recurring funds for the 2026-2027 2
154159 fiscal year for the NCWorks Commission to establish and provide grants to businesses in the 3
155160 State employing 100 or fewer employees that provide sabbatical leave in accordance with 4
156161 G.S. 143B-438.14A, as enacted by this act. 5
157162 SECTION 3.(c) This section is effective July 1, 2026. 6
158163 7
159164 PART IV. EFFECTIVE DATE 8
160165 SECTION 4. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes 9
161166 law. 10